How to Get Involved
Microcredit consists of very small loans, often called microloans, to the unemployed, to poor entrepreneurs and to others living in poverty who are not considered bankable. These people typically lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history. They generally cannot meet even the most minimal qualifications to gain access to traditional credit. Microcredit is a part of microfinance, which is the provision of a wider range of financial services to the very poor.
Joy2theWorld provides these micro loans to women to invest in their existing businesses. Women cannot get loans because they lack collateral or a professional business plan. Often our women are making a living by selling products or providing services in their communities, earning a meager living. Providing these micro loans help our clients to build their self esteem as well. As the women grow their businesses, they take care of their families and also become active and vocal leaders in their communities. Once they realize that they deserve a loan, they begin to realize they deserve more – an education for their children, access to clinics and improvements in their community sanitation.
Your donation could make the difference for these women! Rebecca (see picture) needed 80 Ghana cedis (approximately $70) to start her business. She purchased soap in Accra, then walks the paths throughout her village on Saturday, a typical laundry day for everyone. She sells her inventory and replaces it with more for next Saturday.
For some of us, $70 is a large donation. For others, we spend $70 for a nice dinner out. But for Rebecca, $70 can provide her the inventory to build a business, support her family (her mother) and support her local economy.
Consider donating to Joy2theWorld through Paypal here on the website.
If you look in our What’s Next section, We are in the process of raising funds by January 15, 2010 to build a Pre-K School for the children.
How You Can Make A Difference
On the Ground Partnership Building – $2500
Every six months we fly to Ghana to spend time in our adopted villages of Medie. We use those visits to build and maintain relationships, reinforce our commitment with our staff and the community; hold focus groups with our clients and make programmatic changes and improvements. These visits allow us to deepen our ties and maintain a visibility that sets Joy2theWorld.org apart from other “faceless” non-government organizations (NGOs) and they are very important to our success. We are on a first name basis with many of our clients and local officials and are greeted continuously as we wander the village.
US Travel Expenses to Ghana
Air travel twice each year is very expensive. We would rather use these monies for the benefit of loans for the women who are still waiting. Donations of accumulated frequent flier miles are gratefully accepted and tax deductible for the donor.
Rebecca’s Pre-K School – Her dream is to have playground equipment for the children. – $5000
Rebecca opened a Pre-K School for our women to leave their children in a safe environment to learn and play during the day. Rebecca said “children should be learning and cared for during the day, not in the hot sun on their mother’s backs”. She believes that if children are going to school early, they will respect education and want to continue their education.
Rebecca inherited property and she had it fenced because the location is near a highway. A big tree provide shade for the children when they are outside. There are 130 children attending Rebecca’s Pre-K school. The children spend recess outside in the dirt. We think the school building deserves bright paint as well!
The video on the right is of Rebecca’s School after it got a playground for the children.